Thermal Hydrodynamical Analysis of a Countercurrent Gas Centrifuge

The separative effect in a centrifuge is amplified when a countercurrent in the axial direction is added to the centrifugal field. The mchanisms used to create this countercurrent are obtained with the gas deceleration near to the waste scoop, mechanical effect, and temperature distribution on the rotor walls, thermal effect. This work treats the influence of the thermal countercurrent on the centrifuge separative performance. A complete centrifuge model is presented, therefore this study passes by the hydrodynamical and thermal phenomena analysis. For the accomplishment of this work the gas flow is simulated inside the rotor, initially with arbitrary thermal boundary conditions. Then a structural thermal model is developed to supply the realistic boundary conditions for the hydrodynamical model. This procedure, with the integrated models, allows to propose and to evaluate configuration changes for a centrifuge minimizing the laboratory phase tests.